Susan was born a quaker. She didn't meet her life long partner Elizabth Cady Staton until she was 31 at a abolitionist meeting. They spent 50 years each fighting for the right for women to vote. Elizabeth wrote all of her speeches and Susan traveled the country spreading the word about women's suffrage.
In 1872 she voted. She was arrested three weeks later for voter fraud, because women were not allowed to vote. The police officer came to her home to arrest her, she demanded to be put in handcuffs just as a man would be (and for the publicity). They then traveled by public transportation to the station. Susan declared that the officer would pay her fare. During the trial the judge made a mistake by asking Susan if she had anything to say.
"Yes, your honor, but by forms of law all made by men, interpreted by men, administered by men, in favor of men, and against women; and hence, your honor's ordered verdict of guilty, against a United States citizen for the exercise of "that citizen's right to vote, simply because that citizen was a woman and not a man."
She was found guilty, and ordered to pay a $100 fine. She stated that she would never pay it, and she never did.
Gal's Guide to the Galaxy:
PBS Not Ourselves Alone
